President Lewis Duncan has issued a statement to The Sandspur, responding to the March 21 resolution of “no confidence” by the faculty of Arts and Sciences.

In the document, the president acknowledges the resolution as evidence of the continued disagreements with faculty over its “engagement in determining institutional strategic vision and direction.” The president goes on to state his belief that there are several opportunities for faculty participation, citing multi-year strategic exercises, the current Quality Enhancement Plan development and Demonstration of Learning Team, as well as the institutional Planning and Budget Committee that “oversees all major resource allocation and annual budget decisions.”

“So, while we are committed to exploring additional means of improving faculty participation,” wrote President Duncan, “I must respectfully disagree with the assertion that faculty have not been adequately engaged in consultative administration of the College.”

The president discusses the issue of shared governance and curricular delegation to the faculty, stating that “the policies and deliberative procedures can become ambiguous, and occasionally contradictory.” This, he maintains, causes a common confusion over which group of faculty holds authority over certain elements of curriculum. Duncan gives the example of the creation of the College of Professional Studies (CPS) as a time where A&S faculty felt disenfranchised from “their perceived central role of having approval oversight of the entirety of the undergraduate curriculum at Rollins.”

President Duncan includes an invitation to work with any and all faculty who “are willing participants in the process of shared academic governance,” hoping for constructive shared dialogues on the matter to move the institution forward.

Continued coverage on the President Duncan’s statement and faculty response will be available in the next edition of The Sandspur, out March 28.